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Number Seven Thousand Seven Hundred and Thirty Seven - 04 January 2025
Iran Daily - Number Seven Thousand Seven Hundred and Thirty Seven - 04 January 2025 - Page 6

Persian Gulf Pro League roundup:

Tractor back on top; Esteghlal, Sepahan share the spoils

Tractor moved back atop the Persian Gulf Pro League table ahead of the midseason break thanks to an emphatic 3-0 victory over Esteghlal Khuzestan in Tabriz’s Yadegar-e Imam Stadium on Thursday.
Mahdi Shiri smashed the ball into the top corner to put Tractor in front late in the first half, before Mohammad Naderi doubled the home side’s lead with a superb strike right after the break, curling home with the outside of his left foot from the edge of the box.
Croatian striker Tomislav Strkalj found the net two minutes from normal time to secure only a third home victory of the campaign for Tractor, which overtook Sepahan in the table on goal difference at the halfway stage of the Iranian top-flight season.
In Tehran’s Shahe-e Qods Stadium, prolific winger Mahdi Limouchi scored his seventh goal of the season – joining Persepolis’s Ali Alipour as the leading marksmen in the league – in the 74th minute to cancel out Masoud Juma’s first-half strike – Kenyan striker’s first goal in the Esteghlal colors since joining the Tehran Blues in November.
The visitors finished the game with 10 men after skipper Mohammad Karimi was shown a second yellow card with five minutes left on the clock.
A fourth successive draw in the league saw Pitso Mosimane’s Esteghlal finish the first half of the season in the 10th place with 18 points – 14 points adrift of the top two.
Elsewhere, Malavan goalkeeper Habib Farabbasi’s howler in chesting the ball led to a Abolfazl Zadeh-Attar’s 91st-minute winner as Foolad Khuzestan defeated Malavan 2-1 at home.
Mohammadali Kazemi’s stunning bicycle-kick gave the host a fourth-minute lead before Abolfazl Safarzadeh drew the visitors level in the 65th minute.
The victory left Foolad in the fourth place with 28 points.
In the battle of the bottom-half strugglers, Maysam Taymouri and Saeid Vasei scored in each half to help Mes Rafsanjan come from behind for a massive 2-1 win away to Khaybar, which had taken the lead through Faraz Emamali’s 28th-minute opener.
The result saw Mes move up to 12th with 16 points – one point above Nassaji Mazandaran, which played to a goalless stalemate at Zob Ahan earlier in the day.
Khaybar, meanwhile, remained on the 13-point mark – only standing out of the relegation zone thanks to a better goal difference over Shams Azar.
Shams Azar fell to a third defeat in four league outings, suffering a 3-0 away loss to Iralco, courtesy of goals from Milad Badraqeh, Mehran Mousavi, and Rahman Jafari.
Thursday’s results came after Persepolis thrashed bottom-side 5-0 at home on the preceding night – a second win in as many games for Karim Baqeri as the interim coach.
Alipour bagged a hat-trick to take his tally to five goals in three outings, with Issa Alekasir and Oston Urunov also on the scoresheet, as the defending champion remained third points behind Tractor and Sepahan.
In Sirjan, second-half goals from Arman Akvan and Brazilian Gustavo Vagenin led Golgohar to a 2-0 home win against Chadormalou, lifting Mahdi Tartar’s side to the fifth place with 21 points.
 

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